Once upon a time, there was a foreboding city. Once upon a time, there was a weary existential hero. Once upon a time, there was film noir.

In recent years, such a setting, hero and style seem like things from far away, a nightmarish fairy-tale cinema fans used to know and love very well.

It makes a return in Claire Denis’ latest film, “Bastards” – though nothing is ever quite like anything we’ve seen before when it comes to the French director. Denis has long been a favorite for this reason at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, which will screen “Bastards” along with her 2001 film, “Trouble Every Day.”

In her latest effort, Denis focuses on a supertanker captain (Vincent Lindon) who hits land to investigate the suicide of his brother-in-law. By focus, we mean Denis follows the man in her trademark style -- mixing moody shots with close-ups to create a portrait of an existential hero set against a larger setting outside his grasp or control.

That’s not to say that this is “Out of the Past" all over again -- with Robert Mitchum and those sleepy eyes, stuck in a treacherous city. Denis is not a re-creator; she establishes a moody vision of present-day Paris that borders on sleepy – yet she always finds a subtle way to jar us.

Like the investigator, we discover layers and layers of seediness in a society stocked with unsavory characters. His brother-in-law is dead; his sister is going bankrupt; his niece has been abused.

Why? Denis connects the faces with a larger milieu, as she has done so brilliantly before, in films such as “Beau Travail.”

Here, we find sex, power, money and corruption in Paris. But the themes are as universal as her faces are personal.

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